The Trouble With Neville
by mharawolenczak
Summary: Lady Longbottom contemplates the troubles her husband has brought into her life.


Lady Longbottom stumbled on her way out of the floo.

 _Damn fireplace_ she thought.

She hated travelling by floo but Longbottom Manor was too far out of the way to drive anywhere. Plus the anti-muggle wards meant she could never find it anyway unless Neville was with her.

She sighed.

She loved Neville but sometimes she wondered if the quiet man was worth the headache he brough with him.

When they first got married she was over the moon. It was love at first sight and even though her friends and family though their elopment after two months was crazy, she knew it was right.

From the first moment they laid eyes on each other it was like magic. Finding out that Neville was a wizard and magic was real only added to it. It was wonderful at first, finding out all the things she had believe in as a child were real. Neville took her to Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest, and she saw centaurs, unicorns, mermaids and all other kinds of things she could only imagine before.

She sighed again. That was before she took up the mantle of "Lady Longbottom." Before Augusta decided she needed to live up to the Longbottom name as a proper lady and philanthropist. Not that she minded being altruistic, she had always enjoyed helping others. What she couldn't stand were the endless luncheons and meetings with the hoity toity rich witches who ran all the magical charities. Even though she had Neville had been married for a year now, they still treated her like a pariah. The only one who was ever kind to her was Astoria Malfoy nee Greengrass, and even then she knew Astoria's friendship stemmed from an attempt to ingrate herself and her husband into the inner circle of the "Heroes of Hogwarts."

Today was the worst. Pansy Nott nee Parkinson was playing host for the planning meeting for this years Gala commemorating the Battle of Hogwarts. It had been 10 years since Harry had beaten Voldemort and everyone was eager to make this year extra special. Pansy of course was eager to remind Lady Longbottom (and everyone else) how the muggle hadn't had to live through the war and therefore couldn't understand the importance of the occasion. Never mind that Pansy had wanted to turn Harry over to Voldemort and hadn't fought in the final battle. That Pansy attended Hogwarts during the war mad her a bloody martyr in her own eyes.

Neville's bride sighed again. Removing her travelling cloak and gloves she called for Sami her favourite elf to put her things away and asked for the location of Lord Longbottom.

"Master is being in the greenhouses Mistress Jane," squeaked the elf before popping out of the room.

Lady Jane made her way through the house to the kitchens and out the back door and headed towards the greenhouses. She should have known that's where her husband was. It was a good ten minute trek from the floo fireplace to the greenhouses and the mistress was not happy at all. After such a long day why couldn't her husband for once be waiting for her. Or at least instruct the house elves to let him know she was home. But Neville was Neville and no doubt was absorbed in some new plant or hybrid.

After checking the first four greenhouses, Lady Jane made her way to the fifth greenhouse. Neville was currently working on a special project in there, and she wasn't supposed to enter, but she was tired and it had been a long day and she was once again wondering if her husband was worth the trouble.

Lady Jane reached for the door to the greenhouse, pausing at the last minute to knock out of respect for his private project.

"Neville? Are you in there? I'm home now," she called out.

"Come on in," she heard him call back.

Surprised at being allowed in, she pushed the door open and stepped into the greenhouse closing the door gently behind her so the wind wouldn't pick it up. Looking around she was surprised to see plants she knew. There, in greenhouse number 5, was a replica of her favourite muggle garden.

"What..." she was speechless.

Neville blushed under her questioning eyes, but began moving towards her radiating the confidence of the war hero he was. "I know that living in the magical world has been hard, and that you miss the muggle world." Neville was now standing in front of her and took her hands into his. "I am so proud of you for how well you've adapted and I wanted to show you how much I appreciate all you do to get a long with Gran and everyone else. I wanted you to have your own oasis away from everything. I set wards so that only you and I and the house elves can get in."

"Neville I..." His bride was overcome with emotion and tears threatened to escape her eyes. She looked down at their hands. Hers were clean and manicured to perfection, as a lady's hands should be. His hands, his hands were nothing like a lord's hands should be. They were rough and dirty from working in the gardens. She remembered the first time they met. Shopping for flowers for her garden she was just as dirty as he was now – although most of that was due to him dumping a bag of dirt all over her when they collided. They never did determine which one of them had been responsible for that.

She kissed her husband then, with everything she had. As he wrapped his arms around her and laid her down to make love in the dirt, she wasn't worried about the dirt on her dress robes, but instead lost herself in the love the two of them shared.

Augusta would be angry that she ruined the robes, but her Neville was worth the trouble.


End file.
